HRAP Leaders Rally In DC!

Submitted by Devon on Tue, 04/02/2013 - 20:22

Global Kids Leaders travelled down to Washington DC to take part in a rally against the Keystone Pipeline. They were accompanied by Global Kids Trainer and Foreign Policy Specialist Kevin Murungi. He said...

Global Kids HRAP students were among the over 40,000 people who poured into the streets of Washington, DC on Feb 17, 2013 to push President Obama to take our nation ‘Forward on Climate’ and say no to the Keystone XL pipeline. Our participation was facilitated by our partnership with the good folks at 350.org.

A few of our students and I addressed the bus full of activists on the way down to DC. The students talked about the green roof campaign they are working on with HRAP and why they are climate justice activists. We also ran into Albert Carcaterra (12th grade HSGC) at the rally - he was there with a different org, superstar climate justice activist that he is. We marched by the white house, chanted and made sure our voices were heard. Excellent and inspiring, if frigid, times were had.

The Keystone Pipeline is a project that would connect the Alberta Oil Sands of Western Canada to the major markets and refineries in the Midwestern United States. Environmental Activists oppose the project because of the potential for serious environmental impacts from spills in the major farming region of the country. Extracting the oil from the sands of Alberta is a very carbon intensive process and the crude it produces is of a lower more polluting quality.

It was the first time many HRAP participants took part in a rally of that scale. For many of them it was an eye opener. The Global Kids Leaders were some of the youngest people in attendance at the rally and were thrilled to see so many people from all of the country rallying behind a cause they cared deeply about.

About HRAP

The Global Kids Human Rights Activist Project (HRAP) addresses the current absence of youth voices in the public policy decision-making process and trains youth to become human rights activists. Students identify and research human rights issues and develop a campaign for social change, which includes public outreach, direct action, media strategies, meeting with elected officials, and networking with other organizers.

About Global Kids

Global Kids, Inc. - the premier non-profit educational organization for global learning and youth development - works to ensure that youth from underserved communities have the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and on the global stage.